1. The storyline has been promoted practically all year, since Jan. 3 anyway, the day the Chicago Bears signed Jay Cutler to a $126.7 million, seven-year contract that, for practical purposes, means $54 million through the end of the 2016 season.

A more mature Cutler was ready to lead the Bears. It was his time and the money sure made the story sound right. For $22.5 million this season alone, he better be ready.

Spend some time chatting with Bills cornerback Corey Graham after Sunday’s game and he sounds a lot like Charles Woodson did two years ago when he uttered the words “same old Jay” after the Packers picked off the Bears quarterback four times in a Week 2 meeting at Lambeau Field.

Graham -- playing in place of starter Stephon Gilmore, who was out with a groin injury -- picked off Cutler and was credited with a game-high three pass breakups. Graham broke on a ball intended for tight end Martellus Bennett down the seam to make an interception and set up the Bills’ second touchdown.

Chicago Bears' Matt Forte breaks the NFL record for most catches by a running back in a season.

Chicago Bears' Matt Forte breaks the NFL record for most catches by a running back in a season.

CAPTION

The Bears' loss to the Lions at Soldier Field is being overstated, says Chicago Tribune columnist David Haugh as he recaps Jimmy Clausen starting his first game in four seasons.

The Bears' loss to the Lions at Soldier Field is being overstated, says Chicago Tribune columnist David Haugh as he recaps Jimmy Clausen starting his first game in four seasons.

CAPTION

Jimmy Clausen and Bears fall to Lions.

Jimmy Clausen and Bears fall to Lions.

The second interception by Cutler was far worse. Off his back foot, he threw back to the middle of the field for Bennett with the Bears in range for a field goal. Bills nose tackle Kyle Williams made the first interception of his career – the sixth time (Johnny Jolly, Aubrayo Franklin, Jared Allen, Kroy Biermann and Kevin Williams were already on the list) since 2009 Cutler has been picked off by a defensive lineman. Something went awry on the play, too.

The game tape from Sunday's 23-20 overtime letdown to the Bills, who came to Chicago and won for the first time ever, or choose one from the second half of the last season when the defense...

"We've got to watch the tape," was the common refrain in the Bears' locker room.

So go ahead and pick one.

The game tape from Sunday's 23-20 overtime letdown to the Bills, who came to Chicago and won for the first time ever, or choose one from the second half of the last season when the defense...

(Brad Biggs)

“There was a miscommunication on that because the receiver (Santonio Holmes) was blocking me like it was a run play,” Graham said of a penalty on the play that was declined. “Something was wrong because Holmes came off and he was straight run blocking.”

Miscommunication or not, the throw never should have been made. Cutler, who was outside of the pocket on a bootleg, could have thrown the ball out of bounds and let Robbie Gould try a 52-yard field goal. Or he could have attempted to run for the first down.

Same Cutler that Graham remembers playing with as teammates from 2009 to 2011?

“Oh yeah,” Graham said. “He is a gunslinger. You already know that. He can make some dynamic throws but when it comes down to it he will give you opportunities to also make plays. That’s just how he is.”

The Bears’ three turnovers – wide receiver Brandon Marshall lost a fumble – were just as responsible for the team’s undoing in the 23-20 overtime loss as the 193 yards rushing allowed by the defense. Marshall’s fumble and the second pick both came with the offense in field goal range. The Bills scored 13 of their 23 points off the three takeaways.

Graham figured Cutler would come after him right away and he did. Cutler still had a big game, completing 34 of 49 passes for 349 yards and two touchdowns. But the turnovers were killers. Yes, the Bears had some injuries on offense but Cutler is in an income bracket now where he needs to make the players around him better.

“It was one of those situations where I felt like every other play Jay was testing me,” Graham said. “I don’t know if he saw blood in the water or what. It was exciting. I am glad I had the opportunity to get my hands on some balls and make some plays. I felt a certain way about that.

“We knew coming in it was going to be a tough matchup. They have a very good passing game and great receivers, great tight end, great running back. The offense is pretty dynamic to be honest with you. We knew it was going to be a tough task and we had to stand up and make some plays.”

The offense looks a whole lot different than what Graham was used to when he was with the Bears. Cutler and Forte are the only skill position players he called teammates.

“It’s a big difference,” Graham said. “They have talent out there. They have Jay, he is a gunslinger. They have a pretty good offense and we knew it wasn’t going to be easy. We had to weather the storm and make plays when it counted.”

Graham signed with his hometown Bills this offseason, getting a $16 million, four-year contract with $8.1 million guaranteed. He spent two seasons with the Ravens, winning a Super Bowl ring, and has gotten extensive experience playing defense, something ex-Bears coach Lovie Smith didn’t want to give him.

“I’ve been truly blessed,” said Graham, who the Bears drafted in the fifth round in 2007. “I took different steps in my career. Being here and being able to do what I did on special teams, you can’t look past that because that helped me be who I have become today. Having the opportunity to play in Chicago, I embraced my role on special teams. I loved it. I have no regrets or any bad feelings about anything. I have constantly continued to work and work things have gone my way.”

2. Interesting information on the Web site spotrac.com on Sunday breaking down how all 32 teams have divided their salary cap when it comes to the starting lineup. Spotrac showed the 2014 cap allocation for each team’s starting offense, starting defense and the kicker and punter on each team.

What does it show for the Bears? According to Spotrac, the Bears have more 2014 cap space devoted to their starting offense than any team in the NFL at $58,841,442 -- $3 million more than the Saints, who are No. 2. The piece of the pie is considerably smaller on defense, where the website has the Bears at $31,244,254, which ranks No. 26. Lovie Smith’s Buccaneers come in at No. 1 on that side of the ball and that is without cornerback Darrelle Revis, who was going to cost them $16 million in 2014 before he was released.

These figures are worth keeping in mind as the season unfolds. It shows where the Bears believe they are built to win, for sure.

3. Defensive tackle Jeremiah Ratliff was active in the middle of the defense and got credit for five tackles in press box statistics. But there sure were not many splash plays by the defensive line, which is where the Bears focused their offseason moves in restocking the defense. Ends Jared Allen and Lamarr Houston were credited with one tackle apiece and they logged heavy playing time. They were by far the two biggest additions via free agency and the Bills did a nice job limiting them from making game-changing plays. It’s going to be hard for the Bears to win consistently if these two players are not shifting the balance of action.

“They’ve got a good defensive line and they have some really great pass rushers,” Bills center Eric Wood said. “Luckily, we were able to stay ahead of the chains for a lot of the game. We didn’t want to get in third and longs. We knew if we could avoid penalties, a lot of the stuff we were doing was working.”

I pointed out to Wood that the Bears were last in the league defending the run a year ago.

“In the preseason, they didn’t look bad,” he said.

They didn’t look good enough in this game.

4. But defensive end Willie Young, who played in the nickel package and got a little time when Jared Allen and Lamarr Houston did get rest, made a difference. The story on Young after four seasons in Detroit was he didn’t finish enough plays. Well, he picked up the only sack for the defense and he added two of the Bears’ three tackles for losses. Young was active, he was lightning fast off the ball and made a difference.

“I definitely won’t take anything away from my performance,” Young said. “But at the same time, we’ve got to get that win. That is what I am paid for. But it doesn’t boil down to just the sacks. I am just trying to take advantage of every opportunity.”

We’ll see if Young perhaps carves out more playing time moving into future weeks.

5. Been a while since I can recall seeing two Bears starting offensive linemen go out with injuries in the same game. That put the offense in a tight spot as first Michael Ola replaced left guard Matt Slauson and then Brian de la Puente filled in for center Roberto Garza. Slauson and Garza both suffered ankle injuries and are expected to undergo MRIs on Monday.

De la Puente just returned from a knee injury suffered in preseason and missed about three weeks.

“I thought they came in and played well,” left tackle Jermon Bushrod said. “I think as a whole we fought for Cutty today as much as we could. We let up a couple sacks and three, four hits, I don’t know what it was, that is tough. We lost a veteran (Garza), our leader, and to lose both of those guys against a team like this … they (Ola and de la Puente) just picked up the slack. It just goes to show the kind of preparation they have done.”

The first time de la Puente got on the field for the Saints, it was a similar situation. New Orleans lost two starting linemen in a 2011 game against the Texans.

“I was ready,” de la Puente said. “Garza and (practice squad center Taylor) Boggs and the quarterbacks and (line coach) Pat (Meyer), we spent a lot of time preparing. I try to prepare like I am going to be playing just for that scenario. It’s a unit and the center leads it. He’s got to know what is going on. I prepared like I was going to be playing and Jay did a good job of compensating a little bit for me. I felt like the communication was good, the transition was smooth and all the guys kind of picked up the slack. Just have to check the film tomorrow and see what we can do better.”

Typically, NFL teams carry only seven linemen on the 46-man gameday roster because they’re not going to provide value on special teams. Had the Bears lost another lineman, it would have likely forced tight end Matthew Mulligan into action on the line.

“I don’t know what happens then,” de la Puente said.

He doesn’t want to find out.

Garza’s injury is worth considering when it comes to his contract. His one-year deal is worth a maximum of $1.5 million, including per game roster bonuses. He receives $23,125 per game he is on the 46-man gameday roster for a maximum of $370,000. If he were to miss a game or games, he would miss out on that weekly bonus.

6. Little surprised to see linebacker Khaseem Greene, a fourth-round pick a year ago, inactive for the game. Special teams coordinator Joe DeCamillis lauded him during training camp for improvements on his units, but apparently he hasn’t been consistent enough. The Bears struggled in preseason on special teams and went with four running backs instead of having Greene dress.

“It happened,” Greene said. “I wasn’t surprised, though. I think I did all right (playing in preseason). Obviously, I just have to get better.”

He probably will need to get better in a hurry because the last linebacker on the depth chart can be a precarious spot.

7. The combination of long snapper Jeremy Cain, who filled in for Pat Mannelly during two games last season, and holder Pat O’Donnell got off to a good start as kicker Robbie Gould hit field goals from 41 and 37 yards. The Bears went through the entire preseason before deciding against Chad Rempel and then Brandon Hartson as options to replace Mannelly.

Cain and O’Donnell form the seventh snapper/holder combination Gould has had since joining the team in 2005. Here are the pairings and Gould’s statistics:

8. Coaching isn’t just for players on the 53-man roster on Sundays. Less than two hours before kickoff, wide receivers coach Mike Groh spent at least 10 minutes working individually with Rashad Ross, who was signed to the practice squad last week after spending training camp and preseason with the Redskins. Ross, who has the Twitter handle @TheRocketRashad, ran the 40-yard dash in 4.34 seconds at his Arizona State pro day in 2013. He was undrafted and spent camp and preseason with the Titans a year ago.

Maybe the Bears would consider bumping Ross up to the 53-man roster at some point to help in the return game. I’m not suggesting that could be an imminent move, but if the Bears do promote Ross, he needs to be schooled in the offense and that is why he was working with Groh. They worked on the receivers splits and where he was in relation to the hash marks.

In two preseasons, Ross has combined to catch four passes for 142 yards with gains of 50 and 43 yards. But he’s considered raw. We’ll see how development goes.

9. Word last month was the Bears would head to California early this week and that is confirmed. The Bears will depart for San Jose on Friday – a day ahead of the team's typical travel schedule. Generally speaking, the Bears arrive at the destination for their game about 18 to 24 hours prior to kick off. The plan is to leave Friday afternoon.

Maybe someone gave coach Marc Trestman a quick history lesson on the Bears’ recent misadventures at San Francisco. The Bears have lost their last eight road games against the 49ers and have been shut out three times, losing by an average score of 34-6. They were blown out 32-7 in 2012 at Candlestick Park. Maybe Levi’s Stadium will help change their fortune.

The head coach generally is in control of a team’s travel schedule in terms of timing.

10. The rotation the Bears talked about having at safety didn’t last long. Chris Conte started at free safety and Danny McCray got one series in the first quarter and one in the second quarter, totaling 11 snaps by my count. Leads me to believe it was about conditioning for Conte, who missed most of the preseason.

10 a. For all the concern about Jordan Mills, the right tackle looked OK after missing all of the preseason. Mario Williams had his way with him on one sack, but overall I thought Mills passed the eye test.

10 b. Kind of wonder a little bit about play distribution. Bears had 18 handoffs and 51 drop backs (49 pass attemps, two sacks). That seems a little off, especially when you consider they were not chasing a large deficit. Matt Forte (82 yards, 17 carries) was having success.

10 c. Be interesting to see what kind of roster shakeup happens, with the Bears expected to sign safety Ahmad Dixon off the practice squad of the Vikings. As for who was inactive Sunday, veteran cornerback Kelvin Hayden was not in uniform. Hayden was part of the team’s final cuts. It's hard to even speculate how a space is created for Dixon, who is considered more of a strong safety than a free safety.

10 d. Former Bears wide receiver Devin Hester is definitely working his way into the Falcons offense. He made five receptions for 99 yards in an overtime win against the Saints at the Georgia Dome.